In the 18th round of the Brasileirão, Flamengo thrashed Santos 4-0 on Saturday night (28), at Vila Belmiro. The goals for Mais Querido were scored by Gabigol (three times) and Andreas Pereira. With the result, Mengão reached 31 points and climbed to fourth place in the championship.  

The game
Flamengo started the match pressing Santos' build-up play, and almost succeeded after two minutes. Isla crossed first-time to Everton Ribeiro, who shot powerfully but João Paulo made a good save. The red-and-black team continued to create opportunities in attack. At 17', Arrascaeta crossed to the far post and Gabigol arrived to finish first-time, forcing a great save from the goalkeeper.

At 35 minutes, Diego took a good free kick over the wall, and João Paulo jumped to make the save. Flamengo almost opened the scoring! The Mengão had more control of the game in the first half and created opportunities to take the lead.

Just three minutes into the second half, Michael was brought down inside the area and the referee awarded a penalty. Gabigol took the penalty and shot powerfully into the left corner of the goal: 1-0. Flamengo continued to attack and didn't back down. Then, in the 25th minute, Gabi scored again, extending Flamengo's lead. Thiago Maia passed to Michael on the left, who crossed for the striker to finish into the empty net: 2-0.

Even with the lead, Flamengo didn't slow down and scored a third goal once again through Gabigol, who completed his hat-trick in the game. Matheuzinho took a first-time shot from the edge of the box, João Paulo parried it, and Gabigol simply had to tap it into the net: 3-0.

Andreas Pereira, who had just come on as a substitute, scored Flamengo's fourth goal! Santos' defense made a mistake, the number 18 got ahead of the goalkeeper and rolled the ball low to extend the lead: 4-0. In the final minutes of the game, the red-and-black team managed the advantage and left the field with another big win in their collection.

Next appointment
Flamengo returns to the field on September 12th to face Palmeiras at 16 PM at Allianz Parque, for the 20th round of the Brazilian Championship.

Flamengo lineup
Diego Alves; Isla (Matheuzinho), Gustavo Henrique, Bruno Viana and Filipe Luís; Willian Arão, Diego (Thiago Maia), Everton Ribeiro (Andreas Pereira) and Arrascaeta (Vitinho); Michael and Gabi (Pedro).
Coach: Renato Gaucho.

Santos lineup
João Paulo; Madson, Robson, Wagner Leonardo and Felipe Jonatan; Camacho, Jean Mota (Ivonei), Carlos Sánchez (Luiz Henrique); Gabriel Pirani, Marcos Leonardo and Lucas Braga (Marcos Guilherme).
Coach: Fernando Diniz.

Technical sheet
Santos 0x4 Flamengo - 18th Round of the Brazilian Championship
Location: Vila Belmiro-SP
Date: 28 / 08 / 2021
Referee: Braulio da Silva Machado (SC)
Assistants: Bruno Boschilia (PR) and Nailton Junior de Sousa Oliveira (CE)
Yellow cards: Carlos Sánchez (SAN), Isla (FLA), Diego (FLA), Robson (SAN), Bruno Viana (FLA), Gustavo Henrique (FLA), Felipe Jonatan (SAN) and Jean Mota (SAN)
Goals: Gabi (6'2nd half, 25'2nd half and 34'2nd half) and Andreas Pereira (38'2nd half).

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The striker's three goals @gabigol Through the intern's lens! When he's blonde...? #Let's Flamengo pic.twitter.com/qm7DWNIKg4

- Flamengo (@Flamengo) August 29, 2021